As Pure As Water
by Masaichu
Summary: He asks a question. She gives an answer. And that answer is both as clear as a pond, and as murky as an ocean. Either way, it's still pure enough to understand.


A soft breeze causes the Goddess Pond to gently ripple with small waves. Almost in the manner to make it look like a miniature version of the vast, wide ocean. Perhaps that's why she loves going to the beach so much as well.

Claire had always loved the crisp, blue color of the water reflecting the sky. Whenever she had the time, she would come to the beach and simply sit or stand in sand and watch the waves wash in and off the rim of the shore.

Why she was so attracted to water, she wasn't sure.

But it was half the reason she was sitting out here late in the night, the slightly chilly summer air hitting her face. The other half of her reason was she was waiting.

Waiting for her husband to come up the path with the small picnic they had made. He had simply shooed her out and told her he would be there in just a moment, that he wanted to get one little surprise ready.

Knowing his surprises, it would most likely be one of his finest curry recipes he'd been trying out.

If it was, however, she didn't mind. Claire's stomach had learned to get used to the curry after having eaten it so many times within knowing Skye. Though as much as he loved it, he knew there was a limit, and was willing to try some of the other foods that she'd prepared just for those occasions.

With a small sigh, she picked a pebble off the ground, tempted to throw it into the pond. She thought better luckily, seeing as the Goddess might see it as an offering, and not a very good one at that.

Her boredom faded once she heard the familiar sound of running footsteps from down the path. Turning around, she indeed spotted a mop of silvery-white hair rushing through the forest of trees.

Skye skidded to a stop in front of her, breathing hard with one hand over his chest and the other holding a picnic basket.

"I am...Sorry...My flower..." He spoke between breaths. "I suppose I...Got caught up...With the finishing touches..."

Claire giggled a bit and wrapped her hand around his wrist before pulling him down to sit beside her. "It's alright, you don't have to be in so much of a rush next time."

He found himself smiling as she rubbed his back a bit. How well she knew how to cure tiredness...

"Heheh...Thank you, Claire. I will remember that for the next time."

Setting the picnic basket down, Skye began to distribute the utensils and foods inside between them. Claire found herself eating before she knew it, starving from the work she had done at the mines earlier that day.

It struck her after a few moments that it suddenly become much more quiet than it usually did on nights like these. Her gaze turned to meet Skye, but he didn't return it.

Instead, he seemed to be off in his own thoughts. The food on his plate remained untouched, and considering it was curry rice, Claire knew something was definitely on his mind. Phantom Skye was never one to leave curry rice without a bite.

Several more moments of silence, and just before she could ask anything, Skye spoke first.

"Claire, I have been thinking of something peculiar all day...I must say, it has me puzzled." This time around, he raised the fork and ate some of the rice before turning to look at her again.

"If it has you thinking _this_ hard, then by all means, ask away."

A look of confusion and curiosity had by now settled itself on her features. Skye wasn't one who normally asked questions, it was the other way around.

"It is just..." He paused, as if to find the right words. "We have been married for nearly two years now, and it seems that since we first began our life together, many others in the valley have gotten married as well..."

Claire nodded slowly. "Yes, I've noticed that. And in Mineral Town, it's happened there too. I went to Cliff's wedding, remember?"

She smiled a bit at this memory. Cliff and her had grown to become good friends since her arrival on the island that was home to both Forget-Me-Not-Valley and Mineral Town.

"Yes, yes, I remember...But that is not what I am trying to ask."

"..."

An awkward few minutes of silence felt like years until Skye began again.

"I suppose what I am trying to ask, is why out of so many of the single men that were available to you, what it was that attracted you to me the most?"

Taking this question in, the brunette found herself feeling very surprised that he would ask her a question like that.

After all, hadn't it been made obvious as to why she loved him? Or had he really not seen it?

She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"Before I was married...There were many girls who confessed how they felt for me. Never did I return these feelings, but even so..." A look of discontent came over him. "They always seemed attracted more to my words, or to my looks. They never seemed to come to me because of my feelings or my talents."

Setting her plate down a bit, Claire thought hard to herself. What _had_ made her feel so strongly for him?

Her eyes shifted to look at the pond. If only the answer were as clear as the water, and not as murky as it were in some patches of the sandy ocean.

In the back of her mind, one of the biggest reasons seemed to be crying out like she'd hit a panic button.

She could remember when she had first come here, and seen so many of the single bachelors just waiting for someone to sweep their heart up in one fell swoop. Only when she'd taken a closer look did she realize that she'd come too late to do so for any of them.

Each and every one on the island seemed to have someone that, deep down, they treasured. And Claire had stumbled in enough times during those moments to figure out who was interested in who. It wasn't that hard to figure out.

It was a viable reason, really. She loved Skye because he'd been the only one she could pursue without worry of ripping out another person's heart.

Perhaps she'd felt something with Cliff, and more than once did she find herself eyeing Marlin or Griffin.

But it had been Skye who had saved her from the brink of loneliness. The nights she used to spend feeling alone and wanting to cry were now filled with nights of charming words and calming breezes.

"My dear..." His voice interrupted her thinking. "You've been very quiet now for a long time..."

Snapping up a bit, Claire nodded rapidly before wrapping her arms around him and gently leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Sorry...I was just thinking about what you said..." She buried herself into his shoulder, the scent of curry that he always seemed to have wafting to meet her senses.

A small perk came into his eyes, but Skye kept his calm demeanor. "And? What did you decide?"

Opening her eyes halfway, Claire gave him a blissful smile. "I chose you because no one else could possibly make me feel the way I do when I'm with you. When you're around...I feel like I have a sense that no one else has. And no one else makes me feel that way."

It was a simple, but complicated answer.

An easy, but hard way to understand.

A thoughtful, but thoughtless response all the same.

And Skye didn't need to ask anymore.

"...Heheh...Thank you for being honest with me, then. That answer is the greatest I have ever gotten."

Sharing smiles with one another, Claire moved so as to sit in front of him before leaning in to taste a kiss. It sounded much better than dinner right about now.

The breeze hitting the pond appeared to stop a moment, and the ripples ceased.

A perfect, standstill scene that neither of them seemed to notice.

But that was alright. Claire had gotten her question, and Skye had gotten his answer.

Which, it turned out, was both as clear and as murky as the water surrounding the island.


End file.
